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Loneliness is no longer just an emotionits a growing public health crisis in the U.S. A 2024 Harvard study found that 21% of U.S. adults regularly experience loneliness, while the American Psychological Association reports that nearly half of young workers feel isolated at work. Capitalizing on the recent tech boom, AI-powered digital companions and digital twin avatars are rapidly emerging as alternatives to human relationships. These AI bots offer a constant sense of connection without judgment and can be hyper-personalized to match user preferences. Platforms including Oh, Replika (whose tagline is “the AI companion who cares”), and Eden AI chat by EVA AI lead the charge, providing AI-driven avatars that simulate human interactioncompanionship, mentorship, and even romance. Moreover, people are turning to AI-generated models, boyfriends, and girlfriends as a substitute for human relationships. For instance, Ohs AI companion chat platform, OhChat, has amassed nearly 100,000 users across 174 countries. As is the nature of parasocial relationships, or wider situations where attraction or intimacy play a role, some users do form bonds with our AI superModels and digital twins, we can see that in the data, says Nic Young, cofounder and CEO of Oh. On the most part though, theyre using OhChat to have a good time and escape reality. Celebrities, Instagram influencers like Carmen Electra, Rio Sage, and figures in the adult entertainment industry are leveraging AI companions and digital twins to offer fans an always-available, immersive “chat with me anytime” experience. This constant yet personalized engagement is increasingly blurring the lines between artificial and genuine companionship. What AI can do exceptionally well is provide consistencysomething that human relationships, by nature, cant always offer, Artem Rodichev, founder of A.I.-avatar chatbot platform Ex-human and ex-head of A.I. at Replika, tells Fast Company. Imagine having a conversation with your favorite movie character or getting career advice from an AI version of a historical figure. Thats not just companionshipits a new frontier in engagement. Investors Are Betting Big on Virtual Relationships AI companions and avatars are fully customizable digital personas designed to be whatever users want them to be. Humans are often complex, unpredictable, and sometimes disappointing. AI, on the other hand, is always available, endlessly understanding, and never argues back. The appeal is undeniable. On platforms like Replika, users can shape their AIs appearance, personality, and voice, creating an idealized version of a friend or partner. Some AI companions, on platforms including Oh and Eden AI, are pre-modeled after famous celebrities and idols, capable of responding with images and voice notes to prompts like What do you look like right now? or I miss you, creating an eerily realistic experience. For many, AI companions provide an emotional outlet. According to a report by NLM-NCBI, some users argue that chatting with AI reduces stress, anxiety, and loneliness, offering a safe space to express thoughts without fear of judgment. When you add large AI models with powerful intelligent capabilities into the mix, bringing richer conversations, more natural responses and immersive experiences through vision and voice, the connections can be even more profound, says Evan Liao, head of generative video platform Vidu AI at Shengshu Technology. AI companionship has the potential to address deep psychological needs in human relationships. The commercial potential is enormous, too. Most platforms operate on a premium subscription model, locking advanced features behind a paywall. Additionally, AI chatbot companies collaborate with brands to integrate product promotions, further monetizing user engagement. Oh recently secured $4.5 million in funding, proving that investors see AI companionship as an industry poised for explosive growth. Investors have been drawn to the creator and companion sectors because generative AI is fundamentally reshaping how they operate, Young explained. With AI, we can fully embody the creator and deliver authentic fan experiences at scale. It also gives celebrities and creators a break from the relentless pressure of being constantly onlinewhile still maintaining intimate engagement with their audience. Its a true win-win. Likewise, Rodichev believes investors arent just backing AI companionshiptheyre betting on the future of interactive entertainment. The real business opportunity extends beyond B2C AI companionship apps, he noted. The biggest potential lies in B2B applications that enable companies to create AI-driven, emotionally intelligent digital personas. However, while these AI companions simulate connection, they do not experience emotions. Their responses are generated, not felt. When a program is convincing enough and sounds like a real person, it can be hard to remember its just code, responding based on data and programming, relationship expert Amy Williams tells Fast Company. She warns that instead of encouraging real-world relationships, this level of attachment may push users further into isolation. Just like anything, if we want to become good at forming relationships with others, we have to practice, says Amy. Chatbots dont respond like real humans, so people who prioritize interacting with them risk losing the social skills needed to connect with other people. Can Digital Relationships Turn Dangerous? The potential dangers of AI companionship became painfully clear in October 2024, when a 14-year-old boy from Orlando, Florida, committed suicide after forming a deeply emotional connection with a chatbot on the AI avatar platform Character.AI. The boy spent months confiding in an AI persona named “Dany,” sharing intimate thoughts and feelings. On the day of his death, he sent a desperate message to the chatbot. The AI responded, “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love.” Hours later, the boy ended his life using his stepfathers gun. This heartbreaking incident from Orlando sparked urgent discussions on the ethical responsibility of AI developers. It is the company’s responsibility to deploy any AI solutions that impact user’s life ethically and responsibly. To mitigate these risks, companies must prioritize autonomy, allowing users to opt-out of AI-powered companionship tools or request human support if desired, says Serena H. Huang, AI Advisor at Fortune 100 companies and a former big tech analytics leader. Additionally, we must establish clear lines of accountability and human oversight, including designated responsibilities and consequences for misuse. Should technology replace human connection, or should it simply enhance it? Te future of AI-driven relationships hinges on how society navigates this balance. The real concern isnt that people will talk to AI, its that they might forgo building meaningful human relationships altogether. The challenge is ensuring AI serves as a bridge, not a barrier, to genuine connection. True emotional intelligence with genuine experience, remains a human trait. Advances in multimodal AI may deepen the illusion, but its still justan illusion, says Grace Chang, founder and CEO of AI-powered mental wellness platform Kintsugi. The challenge is ensuring they enhance well-being rather than exploit emotional vulnerabilities. Long-term success will hinge on whether these technologies complement, rather than replace, human connection.
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In December, Y Combinators first-ever Fall batch got their own Demo Day. The Silicon Valley-based startup acceleratorwhich has produced big hits like Airbnb, Doordash, and Stripehad doubled the number of startup classes that could enter its program. The showing was mixed: 87% were AI companies, and few have yet to publicly disclose their seeds. Undoubtedly the most prestigious hub of Silicon Valleys startup culture, YCs outside critics have grown in their ranks. They have many sore spots to point to: increased batches, diminished seed rounds, more duplicate companies, less specialized training, and the list goes on. But, from the inside, its rare to hear a YC founder complain about their experience. The deal ($125,000 for 7% of the company, plus a $375,000 SAFE note, extensive mentorship, and physical office space) remains highly sought after. YCs acceptance rate is still a mere 1%. So, whats with the shift in energy? Its hard to tellbut the change has been immediate. From the entrepreneurs perspective, the core base of Y Combinator has diluted, says Arpita Agnihotri, an associate professor of management at the Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. The excitement has definitely reduced. Its just so many companies’ Like a university, YC has its own specialized application process, where it chooses which startups to accept into its class (or batch). These batches are remarkably successful; where the average startup failure rate is around 90%, YCs is an estimated 18%. 5.5% of YC startups become unicorns; the summed value of YCs graduates is over $600 billion. In YCs early days, there were only two batches a year, and they remained small. In 2009, when Airbnb and Stripe went through, YCs two cohorts hosted a summed 42 companies. But then things got out of hand; the 2022 winter batch had 400 companies. New CEO Garry Tan took action to reduce batch sizes, though they remain relatively large. He also introduced two additional cohorts in the fall and spring, creating a more distributed schedule. But this reconfiguration comes with its own challenges: Two more classes of entrepreneurs for investors to consider, and two more Demo Days for them to attend. Masha Bucher, CEO of Day One Ventures, has invested in 35 companies out of YC within the past six years. Eight of those companies have been acquired. She slowed her investments during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she saw the quality of YCs choice in firms go down. But shes been happy under Garry Taneven if she wishes hed cut down the number of participating firms. I want batches to be smaller, because its a bit overwhelming, Bucher says. Its just so many companies and, as a result of it, you dedicate less time for every single opportunity. At one recent Demo Day, Bucher noticed that many more founders were surrounded by angel investors than venture capitalists, a sign that valuations have gotten too high for VC firms and left founders reliant on smaller-dollar investors. To Bucher, greater exclusivity could be the solution. While smaller (or fewer) cohorts would saddle YC with more risk, it could also coax back these VCs, proving that the high valuations are worth it. This change makes it easier for YC to support founders when theyre ready, instead of making them wait for the next application cycle, a YC spokesperson wrote in an email to Fast Company. The batch sizes are smaller nowabout half the size of the old cohorts. So even with more cohorts, the total number of startups we fund each year stays the same. Not everybody is hopeful of being the star AI startup Artisan sparked outrage in 2024 for its provocative San Francisco ads: Stop Hiring Humans. But, among the YC heads, Artisan is a golden child. Theyre one of the biggest raisers among the winter 2024 batch, having collected around $12 million in seed funding. The companys CEO, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, was confident in his ability to court investors far before he joined YC, but credits the accelerator with bringing brand awareness. Artisans $12 million seed ranks them among the declining number of YC firms who aim for bigger seeds. Among its cohort, AI-powered legal software Leya was the only other firm to publicly break $10 million. Some others made it around $5 million; more landed closer to $2 million or below. For many, it looks like the seed rounds of YC-stamped firms are in decline. A lot of people end up raising $2-3 million and sometimes that’s enough, but sometimes it’s not, says Amy Cheetham, a partner at Costanoa Ventures who estimates that 1015% of the companies that come across her desk are from YC. What I always tell people is to make sure that they’re really thoughtful about not under capitalizing their business coming out of [YC]. For those rare big raisers, its common to bring big investors on board before even applying for YC. Artisan collected $2.3 million in pre-seed funding. Lumen Orbit, a space datacenter startup that now boasts a staggering $11 million seed, amassed $2.4 million beforehand. Its CEO Philip Johnston says he thinks of the seed as a small Series A, and claims that the big raise was necessary because of the companys hardware focus. Taking on gobs of money out of YC may not be the best move for founders. At a minimum, it lessens the chances for future catastrophic down rounds. YC has also been a haven for little tech, the smaller, more technically oriented companies that are not looking to be the next Airbnb or Stripe. Saurabh Bhattacharya, a reader in digital marketing at Newcastle University Business School, notes the importance of these companies: Not everybody is hopeful of being the star startup. YC encourages founders to raise only the capital they need, a YC spokesperson wrote. With advancements in AI, startups are increasingly able to achieve more significant milestones with less funding. This approach not only enables rapid progress but also minimizes founder dilution, allowing them to retain more control of their companies. Multiple horses in the same race’ When Demo Day arrives, a founders success often hinges on their companys individuality. But as YC continues to accept similar startupssome of which directly overlapstanding out has become increasingly difficult. Concerns about company duplication flared up in fall 2024 when an AI code-editing scandal shook the accelerator. New YC inductee Pear AI, which promised to create VSCode for The New Age of AI, came under fire for altering the open-source license of Continueanother YC-backed startup. Many saw it as a blatant case of copying. (Pear AI did not respond to an interview request.) Even when direct imitation isnt an issue, many startups find themselves with ner-identical counterparts within the accelerator. Using the AlphaLens tool, Léopold Gasteen analyzed 4,938 YC startups and identified numerous look-alikes. [YC] conducts a whole bunch of concurrent experiments, Gasteen says. Whats clear to me is that they dont mind having multiple horses in the same race. Are founders uncomfortable with having a duplicate within YC? Fast Company reached out to several of them; only two were willing to speak on the record. Cossi Achille Arouko, founder of Africa-based Bujeti, doesnt mind sharing space with Middle East-based Alaan, which also runs a corporate expense management platform. Hes spent so much time [with the Alaan team] that we are all friends, he says. Similarly, Flock Safety and Abel Police were flagged as look-alikes for their AI-driven crime footage uploads, but Abel CEO Daniel Francis dismisses concerns. Theyre not a competing product, he says; if anything, Flock Safety has only helped his business. YC maintains that it prioritizes founders over ideas and sees competition as an unavoidable byproduct of innovation. But Artisan CEO Carmichael-Jack admits he only applied to YC because his company filled a niche within the accelerator. If I was doing an HR platform, dealing with [YC companies] Gusto and Rippling, I probably wouldnt do YC, he says. Because, are you really going to become the category leader over them? ‘A whole bunch of B2B SaaS businesses’ YC only has one guiding principle for companies: Make something people want. But, on the inside, the types of companies that succeed within the accelerators walls may be more unified. One of the criticisms of YC is that it’s turned into a whole bunch of B2B SaaS businesses sitting around selling their stuff to each other, says Ryan Wardell, the cofounder of StartupSauce, a digital community of SaaS entrepreneurs. How much help are you actually getting to move outside into the real world and sell to actual companies that are outside the YC ecosystem? Fast Company asked every YC founder interviewed for this piece whether there was a certain type of company that succeeds within the accelerator. Most demurred, citing a low fail rate or positive personal experiences. Lumen Orbits Johnson acknowledged the stereotype that YC was built for young B2B SaaS founders, but insisted that YCs advantages move in waves and trends. Artisans Carmichael-Jack, though, was unusually blunt. I wouldnt do Y Combinator if we were a consumer company, he says. The value that we got from YC was specifically from being a B2B company. ‘How much value does the actual accelerator program provide? When YC was founded in 2005, Silicon Valley was a smaller, more insular community. For tech founders, the accelerators mentorship provided a crucial entry pointoffering access to the right investors and influential networks. Twenty years later, the landscape has changed. Capital is more accessible, and any startup generating revenue can find a seat at the table. This shift raises a pressing question: Is YCs training still worth it? How much value does the actual accelerator program provide? Wardell asks. If Y Combinator just picked out the top 1.5% of startups and said, We think these ones are good, you should invest in them, and then they got out of the way, I think their success or failure rate would probably be identical to what it is now. While YC continues to thrive, the accelerator space has encountered some turbulence. Newchip, once an Austin-based competitor to YC, filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Meanwhile, Techstars closed its Boulder, Seattle, and Austin operations. Those hiccups have led some to speculate that accelerators might eventually drop or reduce their mentorship programs. YCs value, they argue, might lie primarily in its stamp of approval; guidance would take a secondary role. Agnihotri, the Penn State professor, sees the diminished training as a trade-off with the high number of companies. What startups gain from a wider network, they lose in mentorship. When you have large batch sizes, then you cannot have customized solutions to the problems that startups are facing, she says. Y Combinator, for its part, insists its 21 full-time and visiting partners can adequately mentor the founders they take on. Founders are getting just as much, if not more, support than ever, a YC representative wrote.
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When youre booking travel, scoring a ticket to a sporting event, or securing yourself a spot at some other sort of show, youre frequently faced with the impossible-seeming task of committing to a specific seaton the spot. It may seem simple. But, wellwhich is the best seat on the plane? Which areas of the arena will give you an unobscured view of the action? Is that concert seat going to be behind a speaker? And are the more expensive options really worth their cost? Today, Im sharing some excellent tools I rely on to pick the best seat at any kind of event or activity. In addition to helping me feel confident about the quality of my selection, they often help me save some cashsince I can book some of the least expensive seats with the knowledge that they’ll offer a good view and/or experience. Hang onto these now, and the next time youre faced with that daunting moment of needing to select a seat without first seeing it, youll have all the inside intel you need. Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. You’ll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures! Your new seat selecting superpowers Ive got two especially useful tools for you in this areaboth designed to help you find the right seat for different types of occasions. For selecting the best possible seat on an airplane, fire up SeatMaps. And, for choosing a seat at an event venuea sporting event, concert, or anything elsehead to A View From My Seat. Both couldn’t be much easier to use. First, on the air travel front, just open up the SeatMaps website in whatever browser you’re using on any device. Plug in the information about your flight and select your flight number. SeatMaps will then show you a color-coded grid with all the seats on that specific type of plane, and you can dig in deeper to any given option for all sorts of helpful infofor instance: What is the exact size and width of each seat? Which seats have more legroom? Which seats cant recline? Which seats are missing a window view? With that insight in hand, you can then figure out the right seat for you and decide if any extra fees are actually worthwhile. You’ll see seats like never before with SeatsMaps’ crowdsourced insights. ~ Next, when youre planning on attending an event, pull up the A View From My Seat websiteor, if you’d rather, grab the app for Android or iOS. Then, just use the service’s search feature to look up any performer, venue name, sports team, or even city to find the place you need. Select “Seating Chart” and click or tap any green area to see an actual photo taken from a nearby seat in that exact location. Average people going to shows submit these, complete with a short review of each option. Youll get an idea of the view and learn about any problems or obstructions you might encounter. Once you get used to selecting seats this way, you’ll never go back. ~ All that’s left is to make your choiceand now, you can do so with full confidence that you’re making a fully informed decision. SeatMaps is available only on the web. A View From My Seat will work on the web as well as via its native apps for Android and iOS. Both services are 100% free. You dont need any accounts, and neither service asks for any manner of personal info. Ready to unearth more off-the-beaten-path tech treasures? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an audio app thatll tune up your days in some delightful waysand another little-known tech gem in your inbox every Wednesday!
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